Internal Affairs
by Red Tigress
Summary: Brandt and Ethan have a disagreement. With their fists. Brandt and Ethan-centric, but the whole team is there. Rated for swearing and violence.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Thanks very much to SicklySweetNanny for the prompt (at least two people in the team physically fighting) and the beta as well. I had fun writing the fight scene for this one._

Brandt was the first one back into their grungy hotel room. Not a word was said as the rest of the group filed in after him. He didn't look at them, instead swiping a vase off the table in anger.

"Benji, get that tracker running." Ethan ordered. Benji nodded affirmatively, popping open his laptop and placing himself in a chair far away from the seething Brandt. Jane moved to stand near him. Ethan turned to Brandt then. "Brandt, it had to be done this way."

"What, Ethan? Willingly giving complete biological weapons to a terrorist organization? This is the _second time._ You can't keep doing this!"

"We didn't know they were tied to the Syndicate until the transfer. We had to give them something. We can follow them this way." Ethan's voice remained calm as he faced down the analyst.

Brandt barked out a laugh, clutching his forehead. "This is so…_infuriating_, Ethan. There are other ways! We have the resources."

"You know as well as I do we couldn't get to those in time. We had to do this on the fly if we want to track the Syndicate."

"SCREW the Syndicate, Ethan." Brandt moved in close to the other man, an accusatory finger almost touching his chest. Ethan stared him down. "Let someone else find the goddamn Syndicate, we have multiple teams to do that!"

"This could have been our only chance-"

"You _willingly_ gave biological weapons to a terrorist, Ethan!" Brandt shouted. "That worked once, _once_, and it didn't even work that well! You're insane, and now people are going to die because of it." Brandt hissed.

Jane and Benji only looked on in shock, too surprised at the argument to say anything.

Ethan's voice finally rose past the calm, rational tone they had been getting used to as he leaned forward. "I did what I _had_ to, Brandt, and maybe if you stopped looking past the short term consequences once in a while, you'd be a much more effective agent!"

"I'm DONE being an effective agent, Ethan, I'm out!" Brandt moved for the door, but Ethan sidestepped in front of him. Jane and Benji continued to watch in silence.

"We're not done, Agent Brandt," Ethan growled, placing a hand on his chest to stop him.

Brandt looked down at the hand on his chest, then looked back up at Ethan, narrowing his eyes. "Get your hand off me," he said dangerously.

"There's still the mission-"

Brandt didn't let him finish, instead placing his own hands on Ethan's forearm to move it himself. Ethan responded by trying to swat Brandt's right hand away with his free left hand. And then they were moving.

Ethan pushed back on Brandt's chest, hard. Brandt took a step backward, but as he tilted to his left, he swung a right hook at Ethan's head. Muscle memory rapidly replaced logic as the move was easily blocked, and Ethan responded quickly by hooking his left foot around the back of Brandt's right leg, sending him off-balance and crashing to the ground.

Jane moved forward to intervene, but she hesitated, reluctant to get in between the two men. Brandt swung his legs up and over his torso, rolling away backwards from Ethan before hopping up again. With a growl, he lunged forward trying to land a left-handed jab into Ethan's torso. Ethan twisted, catching his arm, but was unable to block Brandt's follow up kick to his lower back, making him grunt and release the other man.

"Stop it!" Jane shouted with all the authority she could muster. She looked at Benji helplessly, but he had genuine fear in his eyes when he looked back at her, and neither was sure what to do.

Ethan moved forward with a kick aimed at Brandt's side, but Brandt blocked it with both arms before spinning away, aiming another jab at Ethan's side. Ethan caught his arm, and used Brandt's momentum to hurl him into a wall where he grunted as his elbow punctured the drywall.

"Ethan, stop it!" Jane screamed at them, but her cries went unheard. Benji was on his feet now, but both were paralyzed with fear at how quickly things had gotten out of hand.

With a guttural yell, Brandt launched himself from the wall, tackling Ethan to the ground. Straddling him, he landed a few punches on Ethan's face, before Ethan viciously threw the heel of his hand into Brandt's jaw, staggering the other man. Ethan rolled them over, pressing his forearm down on Brandt's sternum, but before he could pin down his legs, Brandt kneed him in the stomach making Ethan double over in pain. Jane and Benji were screaming now, but Ethan and Brandt ignored them. Physical training and rage had completely engulfed the men, making it impossible to detect anything else.

Brandt grabbed the still-dazed Ethan behind the head, pulling him forward as he shot his own head forward directly at Ethan's nose. He was rewarded a _crack_, and feeling the warm spray of blood on his own forehead. Ethan fell back with a grunt, but before Brandt could follow up he delivered a savage kick to the other man's jaw, feeling it give way with a sickening, but satisfying snap.

Brandt fell backwards, clutching his face and moaning loudly, as Ethan fell backwards himself, panting hard. "Benji, send that tracking info to IMF and tell them to send someone else, we're done," Jane shouted at him, moving over to Brandt.

"Wha? Oh, right…" Benji moved quickly back to his forgotten laptop, typing away, but looking up at his injured teammates. Jane was hesitant to touch Brandt's jaw as he continued rolling on the floor and moaning, not saying anything coherently. She looked back at Ethan, who met her eyes and nearly flinched at the anger he could see simmering there. She grabbed someone's sweatshirt off the couch next to them and threw it at him. He caught it, holding it to his nose which was still gushing blood, but didn't say anything. Instead, he got to his feet, moving towards the door. "Ethan," she pleaded. The door slammed behind him. She got up to follow. "Benji, take care of him," she said, pointing to Brandt and rushing after Ethan.

Benji moved over to his teammate's side, putting his hands on his shoulders to try and help him sit up. "D-don't touch me!" Brandt ground out painfully. Benji pulled back his hands as if he'd been burned.

"Sorry, I…" Benji trailed off helplessly.

Brandt seemed to become aware of who had actually tried to help him then. Still moaning loudly in pain, he sat up, leaning heavily against the couch and breathing harshly in between his cries of pain. "S…sorry Benji," he whispered.

"It's ok, mate," Benji said, gently pulling his hand away from his jaw. The right side of it was already beginning to swell up and turn black and the tech could see where his teeth were no longer lining up. Benji hissed in sympathy, before running to the mini-fridge to grab an ice pack. Bringing it back to the injured man, he said "Just…use this for now, I don't think I'm allowed to give you anything stronger." Brandt groaned again, but in anger this time.

"Ffffuckin'efan" he slurred. Benji just kept looking back at the doorway, not saying anything.

Meanwhile, Ethan hadn't gotten far down the hallway of the hotel before Jane caught up. "Ethan, stop." She commanded. He reluctantly paused and turned to face her, still holding the bloody sweatshirt up to his face. She slowed, letting out the breath she had been holding, glad he was at least consenting to listen to her. She was afraid she might have had to shoot him. "Ethan, you can't do this. You can't…just _lose_ it at your teammates like that."

"Yeah? And Brand can?" The end of the other agent's name was muddled, due to his still gushing nose.

"Brandt's always been reluctant about returning to the field, you _know_ that. Hell, that's why you keep him around, to be the voice of _rationality_. You can't fault him for that. You're our team leader, if you can't keep your temper under control-"

"Do you think I haven' been betrayed by enud teammates to last a _lifetime_?" he interrupted her harshly. "If he doesn't want to be on da team, that's fine, he can leave. I'd rabber he did!" Even though Ethan's pronunciation might have made her laugh at any other time, now his tone struck a cord. Of course. She mentally smacked herself for not realizing sooner. Ethan wanted the same thing the rest of them did, perhaps even more so. He just wanted a stable group he could trust, so he wouldn't get hurt. Again. And the thought of losing them terrified him.

"He brode my nose," he insisted.

"You broke his _jaw,_" she fired back. She took another deep breath. "Ethan," she said softly. "I don't think Brandt was going to leave. He just…needed time. You both did. And you need to listen to him once in a while."

"But-"

She cut him off. "Ethan, you've been shooting down his ideas since he got here. You play fast and loose, and that's the exact opposite of how he runs. He thinks he's not valued here, and that you're just going to throw away everything he suggests. You have to give him some space, and acknowledgement."

For a moment, Ethan looked like he was about to argue. But then the fight finally drained out of his shoulders. He sighed heavily, before meeting her eyes. "Danks, Jane."

"We'll call it even if you get back in there and apologize before he tries to leave again."

When they came in, Brandt was still sitting on the floor, his head resting on the seat of the couch behind him. Benji was kneeling next to him, but leapt to his feet quickly when Jane and Ethan came in.

"Ethan!" he exclaimed. Jane grabbed Benji's wrist and led him to one of the bed rooms where she shut the door, giving the other two men some privacy.

They said nothing for a few minutes, Ethan staring down at Brandt, who was doing his best not to quake with fury and pain. Finally, Ethan took the bloody sweatshirt from off his face, and spoke.

"You were completely right," he started, having better control over his pronunciation now. "I…shouldn't have done what I did. There were other ways. I…" he hesitated, his stomach twisted in knots looking at the pained man before him. "…didn't want to listen to you. When I should have. So…I'm sorry. About everything."

Brandt let out a huff. "There's…'nother team…on it?" he asked.

"Yes!" Benji's muffled voice called out from behind the closed door, followed by a _thunk_ and an "Ow!"

Brandt smiled slightly. "Ya know…really dida…number on me…" he slurred.

Ethan gave a tiny smile. "You probably won't be able to eat solid foods for a week." Brandt groaned. "But I'm going to have to wear one of those stupid nose masks."

"Sorry," Brandt whispered. "Didn't meanta…lose it…" he looked away.

"We both lost it, Brandt. And it's inexcusable, on my part." He sighed again heavily, running his hand through his hair. "Look, after this if you still want to leave-"

"No!" Brandt said hurridly. "I just…don' wanna be within'…kicking range of you." Ethan smiled. "Now, 'elp me up." Brand theld out his hand expectantly, and Ethan reached for it, pulling him up while he held the icepack to his jaw with the other one. Ethan than moved over to the bedroom door, opening it quickly and catching Jane and Benji in the act of having their ears pressed against it. Benji fell forward a little while Jane stood up quickly.

"Hospital. Now." Ethan ordered.

"Ooh, what story are we going to tell them now?" Benji asked sarcastically as he grabbed the keys to their van.

"How you suffered a head injury for being sarcastic to your team leader." Benji paled for a second, and then looked angry.

"Ethan, you can't joke like that ten minutes after you injured your own teammate."

"It's fiiiiiiiiine," Brandt said as the team made their way down the hallway. "Wanna see him…hit you too."

"Don't know what I did to deserve this," Benji mumbled.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Originally, Internal Affairs was a one-shot, cause I like one-shots. It's what I do. I rarely have the attention span for something longer. But a few people requested more, so I gave in. Thanks to Ve for the beta! I will probably have more coming, I just don't know when. In the meantime this chapter is also designed to be a one-shot, so no awful cliffies or anything. ;)_

Jane had been stuck with "blood bag" duty on the way to the hospital. Every few minutes, Brandt had to spit out blood and saliva that he couldn't swallow, and Ethan would drop a bloodied paper towel into the trashbag she held. Benji had lovingly dubbed the job "blood bag" duty, but finally she had just yelled "I hate you all so much right now, starting with you, Benji!" The rest of the way to the hospital had been silent with the occasional spitting noises and moans of pain.

When they _did_ arrive at the hospital, Ethan and Brandt had been whisked away for X-Rays while Jane remained to fill out their forms. The Parisian staff had asked her what happened. She glanced at Benji for a minute before answering back in French. _"They were playing baseball and they crashed into each other."_

The nurse looked skeptical. _"Why are they wearing suits?"_

Jane blinked before smiling. _"They like to dress up. Typical Americans!"_ The nurse seemed to accept this at face value, and had asked Jane to sign some forms before sitting and waiting. Ethan was released a few hours later with some antibiotics and light pain killers. His nose was a dark blue color, but the doctor had reset it easily.

"What's going on with Brandt?" he asked with concern.

"They need to keep him over night, they have to do surgery tomorrow to re-wire his jaw," Jane said.

Ethan frowned, running his hand through his hair and looking quickly away from his teammates' eyes. "Do you have a phone?" he turned back them them. "I want to make sure the guy's someone sanctioned by us." Jane nodded, handing him hers. He walked away to a quieter section of the waiting room to make the call.

A nurse approached Benji and Jane then. "Are you two friends of Mr. Jones?" she asked in English. They nodded, knowing she meant Brandt. "You can see him now," she said smiling, leading the way. He wasn't in a private room, not for this, but he was looking decidedly unhappy in a bed wearing a hospital gown. A cup of water with a pink straw sticking out of it was on the table next to him.

Seeing his teammates come in, he mumbled "Just cause I'm staying overnight doesn't mean I have to wear a gown." Benji would have snickered, but the sight of Brandt's swollen and black jaw coupled with the IV of painkillers running through his system took the humor out of the situation. Brandt then asked "Where's Ethan?"

"Making a few phone calls," Jane assured him.

Brandt sank down into his pillows, looking a little relieved. It was apparent to Jane that maybe he wasn't _quite_ over what had happened a few hours before, and she couldn't really blame him for that. She came closer and put her hand gently on his arm. "He's making sure you get the best surgeon," she told him.

"That's something," he mumbled. "What about the…weapon?" he finished, making sure there weren't any doctors or nurses within hearing distance.

"Another team's tracking it and will rendezvous shortly," Ethan's voice came from the doorway. Brandt whipped his head around, regretting it instantly, as a sharp pain cut through the dull ache the pain killers made of the mess that was his jaw. He gave a low moan.

"God, William, don't do that!" Jane admonished.

Ethan pretended not to notice, still not meeting Brandt's eyes. He pulled a plastic chair over to the side of his bed. "Carter, why don't you and Benji go back to the hotel, get some rest. I'll stay here." Benji opened his mouth to argue, but Jane cut him off.

"Will do. Call us if you need us." She practically pulled Benji out of the room.

"Feel better, Will, we'll be back tomorrow!" he waved.

Ethan chuckled, and Brandt gave a small smile. Neither man said anything for a few minutes.

"We're gonna take care of, Brandt," Ethan assured him.

"I know," he replied quietly.

"About earlier," Ethan started, but Brandt interrupted him.

"Look, can we talk about this later?" Brandt turned back over, looking Ethan in the eyes and vaguely motioning to the IV line. "Drugs and stuff…"

"Oh, right. Sure." Ethan nodded, seemingly very unsure.

"I'm not trying to…tryin' ta…" Brandt started to yawn before wincing sharply and moaning "…shit."

Ethan cringed in sympathy. "Get some rest. We'll talk later." Brandt nodded slightly as Ethan stood up to go back to the waiting room.

Two days later found Benji holding the door open for Brandt upon his return from the hospital. The swelling was nearly gone, but half of Brandt's jaw was nearly black. The bruising now stood out much more against the stark white bandages covering the stiches on the back side of his jaw from the surgery. "I can still walk and see, Benji," Brandt ground out.

"Sorry, just, you know, being polite!" Brandt flopped down on the couch in the hotel room, looking around slowly.

"Where are Ethan and Jane?"

Benji fidgeted nervously with a pen he had picked up off the coffee table. "Oh, they're, um, out." He said evasively.

"Ethan's got a broken nose. What kind of 'out'?"

"Well to be fair, Ethan's on surveillance. I think Jane is the one doing the actual, espionage…stuff."

"What?" Brandt moved to get up.

"No, hey, what are you doing?" Benji rushed around the couch.

"Why are they taking a mission? Ethan's injured," Brandt insisted, a twinge of guilt flowing from his gut at the knowledge that he was the one who caused it.

Benji sighed, grabbing his laptop off the table and plopping into the couch across from Brandt when he became sure he wasn't going to try and get up again. "Well…because of you, actually. Protocol is to send everyone home when the mission's done or canceled or whatever. But Ethan wasn't going to leave. So we all agreed to stay. And to do that, we needed something to do. Job-wise, you know."

Brandt looked down, struck by another pang of guilt. They could have gone home if it wasn't for him.

Benji seemed to notice his distress. "Hey, cut that out!"

"Cut what out?"

"It's not your fault we're here. I can see that look in your eyes! Ethan said this would happen."

"What?"

"I mean…do you fancy some water?" Benji asked innocently.

Brandt smiled. "Sure,"

Benji grinned, putting the pen back in his mouth, and moved to the kitchenette.

"So Benji, did you have to do anything in this…mission?" Brandt asked.

"I got to make the mask! Not wear it of course, since it was a woman's mask, but I got to make it, which was nice. It's fantastic when those things work."

He seemed so pleased with himself, Brandt didn't want to point out that to "make" the masks you just had to turn the machine on.

Benji brought the water over, and Brandt slipped some painkiller pills into his mouth before drinking from the straw. "We uh…have some shakes, too." Benji pointed to a box next to the mini-fridge, filled with French protein shakes. He groaned. He wasn't supposed to do anything that involved chewing for a few days, but the sight of the protein shakes just filled him with dread.

Just then the lock mechanism in the door sounded and it opened. Jane's voice filtered through.

"-don't have to drive like that when we're not trying to stop nuclear war." She sounded peeved.

"I always drive like that," Ethan sounded offended.

"And it's downright terror-inducing," Brandt supplied.

"Brandt!" Jane said excitedly, upon seeing him. "How are you feeling? Do you want a shake?"

"Ugh, God, no," he mumbled.

"We have jello, too," Benji offered helpfully.

"Stick it up your ass, Benji."

"That's uncalled for," Benji moped. Switching gears, he focused his attention on Ethan. "How'd the mask work?"

Ethan looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well, good, if you take out the fact that Jane took it off to early and had to shoot a guy who saw her without it."

"You didn't _tell _me there was a fifth guy," she growled.

"I thought you could see him. He was the guy in the lobby making the shifty eyes and lifting his cellphone to his ear every few seconds."

"Ethan, that's _your_ job, to tell me that. It doesn't matter if I see it or not."

Ethan looked at his watch. "Well, we have about five hours before you have to get back out there."

"I'm taking Dunn, then."

"I could go," Brandt supplied.

They all turned towards him at once, and all answered with a resounding "No."

Brandt's face fell.

"Brandt, you're not going anywhere," Jane said sternly.

"But-"

"-you're on pain medication, you can barely move your mouth, and you just got out of _surgery_."

"Well, when you say it like that," he mumbled, turning back around on the couch.

"I'm taking a nap before we go again."

Benji sniggered slightly as she made her way to the bedroom.

"I heard that, Benji!" she snarled, before slamming the door behind her.

Ethan was writing on a piece of hotel stationary. As he finished, he ripped it off the pad and gave it to Benji. "Go to the store and pick this up."

Benji's eyes scrolled over the list. "Ethan, a quarter of this is hard liquor."

Ethan responded by making a "shoo"-ing motion with his hands. Benji grabbed his jacket, mumbling something about how IMF never let _him_ charge hard liquor.

After he left, Ethan plopped down on the on the smaller couch opposite Brandt where a bunch of pillows were piled up. Apparently, he had been sleeping there since he wasn't allowed to lie down flat. At least for once he was _trying_ to follow the doctor's orders, Brandt mused.

"How was the surgery?" Ethan asked almost lazily.

"Good I guess. I was unconscious for most of it."

Ethan shot him a look that said _Oh, please._ "How are you feeling now?" he asked.

Brandt shrugged one shoulder. "Been worse."

"Will," Ethan began slowly. "I want you to know…I do value your insight. You're a great asset to this team. You think logically, and you're a great balance. Lately I've been…"

"Sort of a dick?" Brandt offered.

Ethan laughed. "Yeah, sure. Sort of a dick. So I just wanted to tell you…don't be afraid to tell me if you don't agree with my decisions, and in return I'll try not to break your face."

"Oh, you'll try?" Brandt smiled. "That's very comforting, coming from the team leader."

Ethan chuckled.

"Listen, Ethan, I'm sorry I haven't been so trusting of you. Getting back in the field…" he hesitated. "It's been…difficult for me. After what happened." He looked down.

"I know," Ethan said reassuringly. "So don't even worry about it."

"So…we're good?" Brandt asked hesitantly.

"I should be asking _you_ that. You're the one who had jaw surgery."

Brandt nodded, giving a tiny smile. "Yeah. Well, thanks for sticking around."

Ethan stood up, giving the other agent's knee a pat. "Least I could do after breaking your jaw."


End file.
